Category archive: Uncategorized

On June 29, 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced a Resolution Agreement it entered with Catholic Health Care Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (CHCS) a business associate of six nursing homes. This Resolution Agreement included a monetary payment of $650,000 and a Corrective Action Plan (CAP). The CAP requires CHCS to conduct…

The U.S. Administration on Aging is offering up to eight two-year grants for evidence-based falls prevention programs. The grants’ goal is to significantly increase the number of older adults and older adults with disabilities at risk of falls who participate in evidence-based community programs to reduce falls and fall risks. The grants also seek to…

Illinois is now one of four states to allow the installation of electronic monitoring devices in residents’ rooms in long-term care facilities. The bill was proposed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan, approved by the Illinois General Assembly, and signed into law by Governor Bruce Rauner. The bill takes effect on January 1, 2016.[1] The resident…

The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC) recently released a study comparing the differences between LTC and Retail Pharmacies. I thought this study may be of interest to some firm clients, who have LTC pharmacies as part of their businesses. Many assisted living facilities (ALFs) and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) provide pharmacy services for residents in…

Less than a month before leaving office, former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation reducing the number of jurors in civil cases from 12 to six. The legislation also requires counties to pay the jurors $25 for their first day of jury service and $50 every day for the remainder of their service. This legislation…

On September 9, 2014, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously struck down the State’s punitive damage cap in Lewellen v. Franklin, 2014 WL 4425202 (Mo. banc Sept. 9, 2014). The plaintiff in Lewellen was a 77-year-old widow with less than $1,000 of monthly income who contracted to purchase a vehicle with National Auto Sales North’s (“National”)…

Today, the HHS Press office released notice of a settlement of $800,000 with Parkview Health System, Inc. (Parkview) for potential HIPAA violations. This settlement relates to a complaint going back to September 2008, when Parkview received between 5,000-8,000 patient records from a retiring physician. Parkview received the medical records as part of the physician’s transition…

If you ever wonder if you should be concerned about HIPAA compliance, think about this latest Office of Civil Rights (OCR) settlement with New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) and Columbia University Medical Center (CU). Following a joint breach report on September 27, 2010, when NYP and CU disclosed the breach of electronic protected health information…

Next time you wonder how serious the government is about anti-kickback law, think about the latest False Claims Act settlement of $30 Million. This settlement was part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, partnering Department of…

While the donation of a valuable item such as an EHR program would raise fraud and abuse concerns, exemptions under Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Safe Harbor were designed to encourage the widespread implementation of EHR and to let smaller providers accept gifts of EHR software without violating the law or statute. The final rule for…